


The Shadow - another alternate ending

by chameleonchanging, vaderina



Series: The Shadow [3]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: BAMF!Newt, Dark!Newt, M/M, Sad!Graves, Sad!Theseus, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 23:18:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11390493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chameleonchanging/pseuds/chameleonchanging, https://archiveofourown.org/users/vaderina/pseuds/vaderina
Summary: An alternate ending/continuation to The Shadow with chameleonchanging. Because some ideas just won't leave you alone.





	The Shadow - another alternate ending

**Author's Note:**

> This was a series of comment ficlets chameleonchanging and I played around with as an alternate ending/continuation to The Shadow. You might want to read that before embarking on this. Not beta read and more or less copy/pasted from the comments so apologies for the slightly disjointed style.

 

vaderina:

After Theseus slides to the floor and Newt stands. That's when the shouting begins. Graves rants, begs and raves. He doesn't want to believe his beloved, innocent partner would be capable of such atrocities. He couldn't be this cruel and cold could he? He screams at Newt, demanding names, information, anything to clear Newt's name in his mind. Because Newt couldn't really do all that. Even after seeing him do it. Sure, Graves himself had killed before, but he never relished it, never did it unless there was no other choice and he hated himself a little more every time he had to. Newt was the pure thing in his life. The untainted, bright, positive force which carried him through darker times. Now his sunshine was eclipsed, ironically his world has fallen into a shadow.

He storms out of the room, convinced he can make it right. He can somehow make Newt shine bright again without the tarnish of death clinging to him. They don't speak for a week but Graves keeps his secret, watches as the department collectively fill in the blanks. Newt was right, he tied up and loose ends before issues could arise. He moves through the department with the lack of grace and hunched shoulders everyone is used to.

Graves asks him to his office a week later. Demands that Newt hand over his contacts in America. Even if he can't save to world, he will keep America clean and right now Newt is he key. They butt heads, argue in low hisses. Nothing gets resolved. So Graves changes tactics. He asks nicely, that doesn't work either. Newt's face is cold and stony in his sweet talk. But something thaws in them both because a few nights later they're back at Graves' home. A bottle of wine drunk between them and it's almost like before it all went wrong.  
The pleasant buzz quickly turns to bitter aches, the wine souring in his stomach. Newt is asleep on his couch when realization finally sinks in for Graves. He's never going to tame Newt, never going to get him alongside. There's never going to be a them again. And he can never win in a fight against Newt because part of him still loves the stubborn fool. Tears come then, not many, just a few. Enough to mourn what could never be. He can't let Newt get away while he still lives but he can't bring himself to harm Newt either. His eyes fall to Newt's coat, hanging innocuously from the rack. Graves is drunk, defeated and so so tired. He'd given his best but that wasn't enough. Gently he lifts the coat and slips it on. He wishes it could have been different. He just wants to rest now, he's done his bit, he's done the fighting, he can let someone else take the reigns now. If only he could remember what Newt had said about the creature in his coat. How did he get it to obey? Oh yeah. Graves asked nicely.

\----------------------

chameleonchanging:

Lucy decides that Graves isn't asking nicely enough, and besides, doesn't Newt mostly like this one? Too bad, sucker, try again later with someone else. Which means that Newt wakes up and finds Graves wearing his coat, possibly in tears, probably hungover, and Newt puts two and two together pretty quick because - well, one doesn't become king of the criminal underworld by being dim. Slow-moving, maybe. Ruthless when it suits. Merciless if someone crosses a line - and Graves has.

He slides his coat off Graves' shoulders and bundles him away on the couch. Brews coffee, just a touch of a cream in one, the way Graves likes it, and cream and sugar in the other. Hands one mug over and seats himself on the coffee table. Watches Graves take a small sip and then cradle the mug in his hands.

He waits until it's half empty before he speaks. "If Grindelwald hadn't come back, you wouldn't have known."

"You would have lied to me indefinitely," Graves mumbles, still too heartbroken to meet Newt's gaze.

"Yes. I would," Newt says. "The thing is - the thing is you were getting better. You were miles better from how you were when they found you. And then he came back and you were backsliding. He was a threat, and I couldn't allow that."

"You killed him because of me?" Graves asks hollowly.

"You don't want to know that," Newt answers. "I saw you before, and I've seen you now, and - and you're there again. suffering, because he forced my hand and now you know. And knowing is the only thing between you and recovery."

"My partner is a criminal mastermind and a murderer," says Graves. "My partner has done things so terrible the man who tortured me was afraid of him. My partner killed someone . . . for me. What does it say about me, that I love you still?"

Newt smiles and curls a hand around Graves' neck, cradling his jaw. "Nothing, except that you love. How do you feel?"

Graves blinks slowly. Wrinkles his eyebrows. Looks at his drink.

"You drugged me," he says, his face twisting in shock.

"I did," says Newt.

"I didn't want to forget," says Graves. The mug begins to slip from his fingers, and Newt catches hold of it before it spills on the floor.

"I gave you a choice, darling," he says. "You could live with knowing, or you could forget. There was no third option. Listen - listen to me, my dear. You matter. More than anything, you matter."

He eases Graves onto his side and covers him with another blanket, tucking it around Graves' shoulder and under his chin, and then sits on the ground next to him to wait out the last few seconds.

"Did I?" Graves asks, almost gone. "Did I really matter?"

And then he's out.

Newt washes out the two mugs and collects his things. He tells Tina the truth, after a fashion - they've broken it off. He's hurt Graves too badly to continue, so could the department not ask questions about it? - and boards a ship to Panama. He'll be far enough away by the time the inconsistencies in the story come up that there won't be any chance he could trigger Graves' memory, and Graves will be safe as another of Newt's regrets.

\-------------

vaderina:

So Newt built his precarious empire but really it's all just a house built up of cards. One gust and it could topple. It's only a matter of time really before he missteps and it all comes crashing down around him. He can run, hide and lick his wounds. Newt had contingency plans for that, he can avoid the world until it settles again. What he wasn't anticipating was Theseus and Graves being dragged through the mud that he'd created. By sheer association as his brother and possible lover they're stripped of their ranks, achievements and dignity. They're left to be ridiculed by the world at large purely because Newt held them dear therefore they must have know something. No matter how many times Theseus drank the drugged coffee, he still couldn't avoid it. And Newt can only watch from the fringes of society as the two men he held most dear above all else are brought to their knees and left as nothing more than husks of their former glory. He thought he could live with the selfish choices that haunted him all these years but suddenly he's not so sure he can.

\--------------

chameleonchanging:

Graves wakes up one morning and his life is falling apart around his ears - again - and what the hell? Of course he's heard of this Shadow, who in law enforcement hasn't? But he's never met the guy, only knows of Newton Scamander as a much-bemoaned, much-beloved relative of his British counterpart. What reason could Scamander's criminal mastermind kid brother have for keeping Graves, a distantly-acquainted-at-best member of law enforcement, under his protection?

So he goes digging, and a lot of little things start lining up. The way parts of his memories are hazy, the way his mind seems to veer away from thoughts about his last relationship. His sudden discomfort with certain shades of red and blue. Months' worth of case reports leaving gaps in the filing system after being pulled for referencing, but that never seem to make it back to their home in the cabinet. That night a few months ago when one of his aurors asked about what happened to his salamander and the others winced and changed the subject when he asked what they were talking about.

Little things that hint at a story just out of his reach. That say maybe his mind, the only thing he has left now that he's sitting in the corner of a damp, dark jail cell being investigated as an accomplice, might not be entirely his either.

\-----------

vaderina:

There is not a lot Newt can do other than wait it out. He hides in distant corners of the world and plans. It's quickly apparent that he's too easily identifiable so that has to change. His auburn curls must go, his hair is shorter now and it's not like he has to hide behind his fringe anymore. His beloved blue coat too ends up as bedding for his creatures. Instead he gets a severe, sweeping black thing that easily houses Lucy and the numerous other creatures that he carries on his person - he paid special attention to the lapels of this new coat, Pickett's comfort was paramount. It is with a heavy heart he leaves his beloved case behind. Gutted, extension charms removed and muggle safety lock changed to plain muggle ones. His creatures now live in a pocket mirror he can charm to a larger size when needed and just walks through it.

All while he keeps an ear out for how Theseus and Graves are faring. Logically he knows they're being used to lure him out. It doesn't work but it's a close call. Getting news that they've both been imprison is heart wrenching and he knows he needs to get them out of there before irreparable damage is done to either of them.

Before he can think to mount any kind of rescue all hell breaks loose. Criminals are coming out of the woodwork now that they no longer have to be afraid of repercussions from higher beings. America is swamped and justice turns harsh. News of Graves' death sentence sends a chill down Newt's spine. MACUSA has forced his hand against his will. He himself would happily bear the brunt of his actions because he believes in his own brand of justice. If it were up to Newt he'd just quietly disappear off the face of the planet for a bit and resurface under a new alias. Except now Graves has to bear his selfishness and that won't do.

All Newt can do is hope that he's different enough to avoid immediate detection. After all, he has his brother and lover to rescue and an empire to take back.

\--------------

chameleonchanging:

Something like this is bigger than just Newt and Graves and Theseus. Oh, no, it's much bigger than just them. Picquery's looking at enormous backlash over her right hand man being connected to two dark wizards, never mind that one of them kidnapped and tortured him and the other drugged the entire major investigations department to escape Graves' notice. Graves and Theseus are imprisoned with people they helped to catch, by people who feel they've been betrayed - under attack from all sides. Hundreds of cases all over the world are going to have to be reopened, convictions reexamined, cold cases reevaluated. The underworld is facing a power vacuum, with all the theft, backstabbing, and murder that entails.

And the thing is - the thing is, when it comes down to it, Theseus chose Newt over everything else. Theseus would let the world burn if it meant his brother could be happy. Graves found himself caught between love and duty and tried to drown himself in the river Seine. Stripped of love, he has only duty left.

What he knows is this: there have been two dark wizards who have had uncontrolled access to him. There are chunks of time he cannot remember and cannot find records for. His city is in danger. His president - his *friend* is ruined for her trust in him. He will never be able to serve again. He will never be able to trust that he is indeed acting of his own volition.

When they come, he goes quietly. They cast his memories into a glimmering pool. He is tired. Ilvermorny was painful in the way that schools everywhere are painful, but he thinks he wouldn't mind being at school now. Perhaps it says something about him that he has no happier memories.

There is a bang. His executioners fall to the ground. A man in a black coat steps over them, his hungry eyes on Graves. He looks familiar. Perhaps he's had a haircut. "Percival," he says.

Graves hurls the chair at him, and in that moment of distraction, throws up a barrier between them from wall to wall. He stands with his back to the pool, his heels hanging off the edge. "You must be Scamander," he answers. "There's nothing for you here."

"You're here," says Scamander. "I couldn't let them kill you."

Graves laughs bitterly. "I won't let you use me again," he says, and lets himself fall.

\-------------

vaderina:

Half the reason for Newt to fight and get control back is gone. He worked so hard to make sure Graves and Theseus could live happily. With the best intentions possible he is responsible for one's death. And the other? He's grieving, he's lost everything and part of his identity in the process. He's no longer the War Hero. No longer a feared Auror. He doesn't even know who he is any more so he drifts.

It pains Newt to see his once proud brother a shell of himself and the loss of Graves compounds the issues. In a way he's lost both of them. Theseus drinks himself into oblivion most days now anyway and there's nothing Newt can do to help. His reason to moderate himself, to show a bit of humanity to those who he controls vanishes. He begins his rule anew. But this time there is no mercy, there is no kindness. The only thing he has anymore is a terrible reputation that he might as well live up to.

\--------------

chameleonchanging:

Newt stops being a shadow and starts being a tyrant. He rules with an iron fist and iron will, and anyone who gets in his way disappears. There was some concern he would start a war with the MACUSA over Graves' death, but - well, Newt knows the truth. He dreams of that moment often, of the determination in Graves' posture before he fell, of the way the iridescent pool parted and then swallowed him whole, leaving nothing behind. Graves was doomed the moment Newt's empire began to crumble.

He lives and he reigns, and those last words rattle around inside him, echoing in his hollow chest every waking moment.

 

(He finds himself in New York some years later to deal with a traitor in his operation. Caught early, so there was little damage, but some things cannot be allowed. They bring the culprits to him, and -

One is slight and nervous, hunched over. She knows who she's crossed and she doesn't regret it, but when it comes to it, she doesn't want to die. The other is plainly an auror, with her feet planted, chin up, keeping herself between Newt and her informant, their fingers tangled together. She will die failing to save a traitor looking for redemption because she doesn't know how else to live.

"Make certain I never see either of you again," he says instead of slaughtering them.

That night he dreams about a road not taken.)


End file.
